You Are Not Your Client

I continue to be amazed at how unaware many health professionals are about the risks their clients take when they book an appointment or ask for help.

As health professionals – we are comfortable in a health care setting, are used to discussing medical issues, have no trouble taking our clothes off for an examination (we did it for years at university), and are able to ask good questions of our health providers.

But spare a thought for your poor patient and clients.

When they make an appointment to see you they may have one of more of the following concerns: Continue reading

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Health Business Lessons from Oma’s Kitchen

It is not often that I am impressed by the service and dining experience delivered at a restaurant – maybe I am dining at McDonalds too much and only get served by 14 year olds asking if I want fries with that.

However – I recently dined at a new restaurant in the heart of Newcastle (Australia) – called Oma’s Kitchen (happy to give them a mention)   a simple layout, huge image of a farmhouse and the Alps on the wall, and a great selection of authentic German foods on the menu.

Now – what has this got to do with running a great health business – well here goes.

We were met by Mark – the restaurant owner and shown to our seats – he then said something like: Continue reading

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Three Success Tips for 2012

The start of a new year is always seen as a great time to start fresh and make some real changes to your business and your life.

With this idea in mind I thought I would start the year with three simple tips that may stop you from falling back into the same habits and help you make 2012 your best year ever. Continue reading

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Four Words Not to Say to Your Clients and Patients The Week Before Christmas

With less than one week until Xmas – this time of year can be a difficult one for health business owners for the following reasons:

- Your patients and clients get very busy and don’t place high enough importance on their health and rehabilitation programs.

- Most schools have closed for the holidays so parents have less time to fit in their own therapy and training sessions.

- Cancellation rates increase and follow up bookings drop as people get ready for Xmas and a few days break.

- Your team start to slacken off and think about their upcoming holidays and the parties they need to fit in this week.

- You are also mentally and physically exhausted after a hard year at the coalface and need a break yourself.

But there are business issues that still need your attention – your staff still expect to be paid, your rent and bills don’t stop for the Xmas period and your credit card bill is sure to cause some stress when it arrives in January.

That being said – there is still one essential part of your business systems and procedures this week that cannot be overlooked – the words you say to your client in their last session before Xmas. Continue reading

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What Did I Learn from Losing a Health Business?

In a recent post I told you about the time I lost a thriving health business in less than 24 hours and the devastation I felt from the loss of years of hard work.

I am sure fellow health business owners can understand how frustrating and upset this chain of events could make you feel.

That being said – I have always been a positive thinker ( this is important if you plan on a long career in health care ) – so I think it appropriate to go over some of the positives that came out of the experience and the lessons I learnt along the way.

I hope these lessons are useful in your health business careers as well: Continue reading

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How I Lost $1 Million Dollars in 24 Hours

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of discussion on this blog about the idea of health professionals developing a business that they can eventually sell – some of the comments have been negative and some positive – but that’s OK.

This topic did make me begin to question why I am so passionate about helping health professionals build a sellable business – while also delivering excellent health services to their clients.

It did not take me long to see the big turning point in my business outlook – the day I lost a great health business and over $1 million in future profits through no fault of my own. Continue reading

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An interesting reply …. All Health Professionals Must Read This.

In an email earlier this week – I sent information about my upcoming seminar series “What is Your Health Business Worth – Selling, Buying and Increasing the Value of Any Health Business” – to my list of subscribers.

In one of the sub-heads for the seminar advertising I made the comment:

“Don’t Waste 20 Years of Your Life Building a Business that is Ultimately Worth Nothing to a Potential Buyer”.

This sub-head caused quite a lot of interest and debate from health professionals – one such response was:

“Sounds great but unfortunately you seem to be missing the point of why a lot of health professionals do what they do. I love what I do and enjoy getting people fit and healthy. I would almost do it for nothing if I could – so wasting my life for 20 years…A big call. Please remove me from your mailing list.” Jason

I usually let comments like this slide but this one struck a nerve for me and made me want to reply – as this belief is actually one of the biggest problems health providers face at this time.

Here goes – and yes I suppose I will get more hate mail. Continue reading

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Using a Differential Fee Structure – Tips from Craig Allingham

I have the absolute pleasure of interviewing well know Australian Physiotherapy educator – Craig Allingham – for my Profit Club “CD of the Month”.

The topic for this interview was “How to Turn Your Clients Into Cash Flow” – a great session with lots of take home value.

In the interview we spoke about the concept of “Differential Fees”.

This is basically where a client is charged a different fee for their health service depending on which health professional the client was treated by – typically the more experienced therapists being charged out at the highest rates. Continue reading

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Business Mistakes 101– Low Hanging Fruit

I had the pleasure last week of interviewing one of my mentors for my “Profit Club CD of the Month” – Nigel Champion.

Nigel is the founder of the Australian Fitness Network and a true business and life mentor of mine.

In this interview he mentioned some of the mistakes he had made in business and how one of them involved the mistake of being lured to pick the “Low Hanging Fruit” in on business deal he was involved in.

Nigel was basically saying that he was presented with a very easy option of achieving a result and was seduced by the ease of the deal.

I am sure you can guess the outcome – the deal went south and Nigel lost a lot of money and credibility from this mistake.

I see a lot of health business owners making the same “Low Hanging Fruit” mistakes in their health business – especially when setting up their clinics – here are some classics: Continue reading

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My 3 Top Ways to Motivate Your Team Are….

I had an interesting one on one coaching call with a client yesterday who was concerned about how his team members did not have the same (or even similar) consult numbers and general motivation that he has as the business owner.

Which brings me to the topic of today’s blog?

Wrighty’s Top 3 Ways to Motivate and Encourage Your Team Members. Continue reading

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